Behind Those Eyes
by Angel N Darkness
Summary: Harry is blind due to his uncle... How does he cope? Written for DADA Assignment 4 task 2A... Slight Ron bashing! If you don't like don't read... AU!


A/N: This story will be a oneshot/drabble and it's for DADA Assignment 4 – Task 2A on Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own HP!

The Jelly-Legs Jinx ( _Locomotor Wibbly_ )

The Jelly-Legs Jinx (which is also known as the Jelly-Legs Curse) is a spell which causes the target's legs to collapse under them by making them shake and wobble (turns them into jelly). It's used in duels all the time, despite possibly being a less complicated spell and most definitely a less deadly one.

 **Task 2a:** Write about a physical disability. This can be a permanent one, a temporary one or anything else you can think of as long as it's strictly physical.

Extra Prompt: (dialogue) "Are you okay?" / "Yes." / "Are you sure?" / "No."

(action) covering face with hand

Gringotts Prompt Bank: Title Prompts: Titles taken from song titles: Behind Those Eyes

 **Word Count: 2,736 words**

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Harry Potter sighed as he felt rather than saw people staring at him. He had a tight grip on the man beside him and refused to let go of the man. He may not have been able to stand the man before now, but now he couldn't be any happier about having the man beside him. "Is it just me and what I'm feeling or is everyone staring at me, Sir?"

Severus Snape sighed as he glared at the people close to where he was standing protectively over the boy he had thought that he hated. "No, Harry, they are all staring, but I have a feeling that it will stop here in a few seconds if they know what is good for them."

Harry snorted and covered his face with a hand. He knew that Severus had meant what he had just told him. In the last two weeks it had been Severus who was by his side every second of every day to make sure that he was alright and that he didn't need anything. "Too bad I can't see the glare that you are probably giving everyone right about now. Merlin, I hate not being able to see."

Severus frowned as he looked at the boy. "Are you okay?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Severus asked.

Harry groaned. "No."

Severus shook his head. "In about three months you will have your vision back, Harry, I promise you. It would be sooner, but if we want to fix your eyes correctly then they need to be strong enough for us to heal them. Unlike your uncle whom Lucius, Remus, Sirius, and I took great pleasure in making sure that he would never see again, you will get your eyesight back and when you do you will no longer have to wear glasses. I know that you don't like being able to see, but at least all of your other senses are working to compensate for that right now. Once you are at Hogwarts you will have all of us plus your dog to help you get around. I have made sure that you have your own set of rooms, but you are allowed to invite people to stay in them with you."

Harry smiled slightly as he let Severus guide him onto the Hogwarts Express. He knew that he would be sitting with Severus in the Professors compartment and for that he was happy because he wouldn't have to put up with all the stares or with people constantly stopping by the compartment he was in to see if it was true that he was blind or temporarily blind as the case may be. "I am happy about that. I don't want to stay in a room with Ron because I wouldn't be able to see any attack coming. I still can't believe he turned his back on me once again."

Severus' eyes hardened as he helped Harry to sit down on a chair in the Professors compartment. "It will be alright, Harry. None of us Professors will let him near you especially after what he did when he saw you on the platform. I took great pleasure in stripping him of his Prefect badge, deducting points, and assigning him detentions for the next three months. Now, how is the pain in your eyes doing?"

Harry shook his head. "It is tolerable for right now. Did you look over my assignments for me like you said you would?"

Severus chuckled. "They were done correctly and worded just like they should have. I am happy that you are able to use the quill to write for you. I know that you don't like the fact that you no longer can see right now, but, Harry, you are one of the strongest people that I know. You aren't letting your physical disability stop you from doing what you need to do. You are finding new ways to get around problems that most wizards and/or witches wouldn't know how to get around if they were blind."

Harry smirked. "Hermione once told me that most wizards and witches didn't have an ounce of logic or common sense in their bodies and I'm starting to think that is true. Yes, not having eyesight is hard, but if you use the brain you have you can get around most problems and since we have magic we have it even easier than the Muggles do. It's going to be hell at Hogwarts, but I know that I will get through it because I finally know that I no longer have just myself to count on. Between Bruno and Dobby, I will be able to make all of my classes. I may not be able to do the practical part of every single lesson that I go to, but I will be able to do the theory. Hell I have even found a way to be able to brew while being blind."

Severus nodded even though he knew Harry couldn't see him do it. "You are smart, Harry, which is something that I know most of your Professors have been trying to get you to see since first year. As long as you use your brain you can and do think things through so that you overcome any problem or issue that you find. I don't even think your best friend Hermione could get through being blind like you are because she relies too much on the written word. Well that and because she loves to read too much. You just need to remember that just because you are blind it doesn't mean that you are any less of a wizard because if anything you being blind has made you even more in tune with your magic."

"You know while I can't see shapes, faces, words, people, or anything like that I can see a person's aura now. I am able to tell who is near me just by the color of their aura. It is kind of nice and I honestly hope that once I can see again that I will still have that ability. I used to hate being different, but now I can see that it isn't a bad thing. It isn't a bad thing to be set apart from other people because it allows you to grow as a person if that makes sense. I never understood that until I could no longer see. I never understood that it isn't bad if you are not the same as everyone else. What matters is how you use what you have that others don't have." Harry responded after finally getting what he wanted to say worded right in his mind.

Severus hummed in agreement. "That does make sense, Harry. A lot of people never think about what kind of person they would be if they were different than anybody else. People are shallow and tend to think about what can benefit them and them only, but you have never been that way and since you lost your vision it shows through even more. People never think about something they have until they don't have it any longer."

Harry ran a hand through his hair. "I will have to work even harder now, but I don't really see that as a bad thing. People should always have to work hard in order to get what they want because if they don't have to then it isn't really a victory. I'm blind, but I'm not stupid and I can still do plenty of things for myself. I don't miss seeing everybody stare at me like I could feel them doing on the platform. I don't miss seeing the looks on everyone faces that make me feel like I have to be something or somebody that I'm not. I no longer have to see everyone else's expectations of me because the only expectations that matter are the ones that I want to achieve for myself and nobody else. It took my uncle blinding me for me to see that I don't have to be what other people want me to be."

Severus carded his fingers through Harry's hair in comfort because he could tell by the sound of Harry's voice that he was bitter about certain things. "I'm sorry that it took this for you to realize that you don't have to be what everyone else wants you to be, Harry. You are Harry just Harry and that is all that should matter. You don't have to live up to whatever people expect because they are not you or your family. Nobody and I do mean nobody has the right to tell you what to do or what they expect you to do, Harry."

Harry leaned his head on Severus' shoulder even as he looked at the man who he couldn't see with glossy green eyes. "I'm done listening to people tell me what to do. It is my life and not theirs so I get to choose who and what I want to do and/or become. I'm going to start living my life the way I want to live it and not the way everyone else around me wants to live it. Nobody was there to help me through my childhood or even my first five years of Hogwarts when I was getting beat for something that I couldn't help so they don't get a damn say in what I choose to do or the person I choose to become. If they don't like the person that I become, then they can go fuck themselves because they haven't lived the life that I lived. I no longer have to put up with them telling me I have a duty because I made sure that Riddle is dead and gone for good this time. I finally get to be me and I am not and I refuse to apologize to anyone who doesn't like that I am finally being my true self. If they can't handle that then that is on them and not on me. I shouldn't have had to act like I was different than I truly am just to satisfy everyone else."

Severus stayed silent as he kept carding his fingers through Harry's hair. He wasn't surprised at all when the young man fell asleep on his shoulder. He knew that Harry needed sleep because of what he was going to go through once they reached Hogwarts. He stayed right by Harry's side the entire ride and glared at the few people who were stupid enough to open the compartment door. When they were five minutes away he woke Harry up and helped him with his robes.

When the train stopped he guided Harry out of the compartment and off the train. He nodded at Neville, Hermione, Draco, Blaise, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Theo Nott who were all standing by a carriage and keeping people away from it. "Longbottom, Granger, Malfoy, Zabini, Thomas, Finnigan, and Nott have a carriage ready for us. Are you sure that you want to go to the feast?"

Harry nodded sharply. "I'm sure, Severus."

Severus' lips twitched as he helped Harry up into the carriage and then climbed into it before the others go in behind them. He wasn't surprised to see Hermione sit on Theo's lap or Draco sit on Blaise's lap so that they all fit into the carriage once he sat Harry on his own lap. "I have already cleared it with Professor McGonagall so Theo, Draco, and Blaise, you are to sit at the Gryffindor table during the welcome feast. Do whatever you have to in order to make sure that Harry can eat in relative peace and that goes for all of you."

Hermione smiled slightly. "We will, Professor Snape. I'm glad to see that you finally realize what I have known all this time."

Severus looked at Hermione with a raised eyebrow. "What would that be, Miss Granger?"

Hermione smirked. "That behind those eyes is a boy who is brave and intelligent. Harry, where is Bruno?"

Harry laughed. "He should be waiting at the door for me once we get into the castle. I let Padfoot bring him so that he didn't have to take the long train ride with me."

Theo laughed. "I can't wait to see people's reactions when they catch sight of your big dog. Not only is he a seeing eye dog, but he is very protective of you."

Seamus smirked. "Pops was happy that Harry chose Bruno as his guide dog and protector. Before Harry even took him Pops made sure that Bruno knew that if anyone even tried to hurt Harry that he was to hurt them first."

Harry shook his head even as he smiled. He took in a deep breath and let it out when he felt the carriage stop. He let Severus help him out of the carriage and up the steps. When he felt a furry head bump his leg he grabbed onto the leash that he knew was around the dog's neck. He turned to where he felt Severus standing. "Let's get this over and done with."

He trusted Bruno and let the dog lead him into the Great Hall. He once again felt rather than saw all the stares on his person, but he ignored them in favor of getting to the Gryffindor table. He knew that Dean, Seamus, Theo, Hermione, Neville, Draco, Blaise, and even Severus were walking behind him as he let his dog lead him to where he needed to be. When he felt Bruno stop he bent down slightly and felt for the bench and then slowly sat down on it before turning slowly to put his legs under the bench.

He grinned towards where he felt Severus standing and watching him proudly. "I did it."

Severus laughed as he ruffled Harry's hair. "I knew that you could, Harry. Enjoy the feast with your friends and I will come to you when it's over."

Harry chuckled at the pride he heard in Severus' voice. He knew that the older man had faith in him, but he had wanted to prove to him and even to himself that he could get by on his own without constantly needed help. He felt Hermione sit on one side of him while Neville sat on the other side of him with Draco, Blaise, and Seamus across from him. He knew that Dean was sitting on Neville's other side while Theo was on Hermione's other side. He wasn't sure exactly how he could tell that, but he could and he couldn't be any happier. He ignored all the whispers and stares as he ate the food that Hermione put on his plate.

He was proud of himself for not making a mess the entire time that he ate. Yes, he had to eat slower than he normally did, but in the end it was worth it. He was able to figure out where the food was at on his plate without help from anyone else. He was happy that he was able to do this small thing on his own and knew that Severus and everyone else would be happy for him as well. He knew that this was just the beginning, but he also knew that he would get through whatever was thrown at him because he would never give up. He would never let anything stop him from doing what he wanted regardless if he was blind or not. He had to learn to live with being blind and now that he had he knew that even if for some reason it turned out that they couldn't fix his eyesight that he would survive.

As Hermione had told Severus earlier behind his eyes he was brave and intelligent. He was no longer afraid of not being able to see because while he may not be able to see through his eyes he finally did see a lot of things that he should have seen earlier on. He could see now that he was as blind as a bat about things he didn't know or understand before he ever even lost his vision. He had no doubt that if and when his eyes were able to be healed that he would see things so much more clearly than he had ever seen them before.

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A/N 2: Wow this one turned out to be longer than I thought it would... Hope you all enjoyed it! Click the button and let me know what you think!


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